**Updated** BBM Channels Leaving BB10 Behind

Better things are to come.

BBM for BB10 users received a disheartening message today. The message, is that after June 27th, they will no be able to access BBM Channels. While this is understandably very frustrating for most BB10 users, it is a sign of better things to come.

As is well known, while BlackBerry still owns BBM, Emtek took over management of BBM for iOS and Android some time ago, while BlackBerry maintains BBM for BB10. There were minor changes at first, and then in August of last year, the migration of services and servers from BlackBerry to Emtek began. That was when we first started to see a real divide between BB10 and cross platform BBM.

As the migration occurred, and as BB10 users began to notice a deprecation of services, cross platform users began to really see BBM grow. It’s been a faster growth in terms of capabilities than any other application that I have personally witnessed, and it hasn’t been slowing down. A short while ago, BB10 users noticed that they were no longer able to access the desktop manager for BBM Channels, and now, on June 27th, the split will be complete. While no one wants to think about it, the end date of BB10 has been decided, and we shouldn’t expect ongoing development of applications for a platform that is in the last stages of it’s life. No matter how much we all love the platform.

For those still using BB10 as their primary platform, this is hard news to swallow. At the same time, fans of BBM should be very optimistic after seeing the changes that have occurred to our application of choice after the previous splits. If history holds true, we should see a much improved version of BBM Channels on the horizon.

If you’re still managing a BBM Channel from a BB10 device, and have a secondary Android or iOS device, I’d advise reaching out to BBM and requesting that your BBMC me transferred to your Android or iOS BBID. There may still be a way to complete this action before June 27th, however I doubt that will be the case after the end date.

BBMC on BB10 will always hold a special place in my heart. It truly is where UTB Blogs was born. But I’m very excited for what’s to come, and can’t wait to grow with BBM Channels on my current BlackBerry Android phones.

**Update**

The Inside BlackBerry Help Blog has explained this new transition in a new blog post.

In addition to the Channel changes mentioned above, groups will also be affected in the latest move. From the blog post:

BBM Groups will no longer support groups with a combination of BB10 / BBOS participants and Android / iOS participants

BBM Groups will continue to support groups with only BB10 and BBOS participants, or groups with only Android and iOS participants